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Final curtain on curling at Grey Granite

Ron Hopper, president of the Grey Granite Curling Club in Owen Sound stands on the ice last winter in the nearly 100-year-old brick building which was sold because of costly structural repairs. Sun Times file photo.

A large, unexpected repair to the ice making equipment at the Grey Granite Club has dropped the final curtain on curling in the century-old structure.

The 70 or so members had registered and were ready to go this season when a leak was discovered about two weeks ago connected to the ice making equipment. It would have cost about $30,000 to repair.

“We thought everything was a go,” said club president Ron Hopper.

The club had signed a two-year rent-free lease with Northridge Property Management, the new owners of the Grey Granite building. The building includes a banquet hall and a 100-year-old curling rink. It had been owned by the club until late last year, when engineers found problems with the structure’s roof, and the club decided to sell the building because of the cost of repairs.

The latest stroke of bad luck was discovered late last month when it was found there was no brine in the pipes, which is needed to chill the ice. Hopper said they knew it meant there was a leak, which was confirmed upon further inspection.

“This was a major piece of equipment, and when it goes, usually you're going to have trouble with your lines that go under the ice surface,” said Hopper. “Chances were we were going to find other problems as well.”

The club had already been planning to spend about $12,000 on the ice chiller so that it could recirculate city water as a way of keeping water bills down. But Hopper said a $30,000 repair on top of that was deemed too much by the membership, which held an emergency meeting Sept. 30 to discuss the dilemma.

“We’ve been struggling the last few years. We've paid off all our debts, paid off our mortgage and everything, and had some money in the bank, but this would have . . . you know, if we had anything else happen this year, we would have been going out of pocket each person,” Hopper said.

Paying for the latest repair would have entailed more fundraisers, Hopper noted, “and everybody was just worn out and said no, let's call it.”

The curling club has been in existence for about 137 years, Hopper said, although not always at the current Owen Sound location.

“We don't feel good,” Hopper acknowledged. “But it's sort of like having a senior family member that's been sick for a long time. You celebrate the life of the passing.”

Hopper said a committee is investigating whether another curling club can accommodate Grey Granite members on their rink for a night a week.